Perception

Chapter 2

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“Alternative” Milk

• Parmalat– Shelf-stable milk: Can last for 5-6 months

unopened without refrigeration

• Discussion: Would you drink milk out of a room-temperature, square, quart-size box?

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Overflowing Sensations

• Our world is a symphony of colors, sounds, odors, tastes, etc.– Marketers contribute to the

commotion– Advertisements, product

packages, radio & TV commercials, billboards

– NBC’s Fear Factor

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Sensation & Perception

• Sensation– Immediate response of

our sensory receptors…• …eyes, ears, nose,

mouth, fingers…

– …to basic stimuli…• …such as light, color,

sound, odor, and texture

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Sensation & Perception (Cont’d)• Perception

– Process by which sensations are selected, organized, and interpreted

• Adding meaning to raw sensations

Figure 2.1

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Advertisements Appeal to Our Sensory Systems

• This ad for a luxury car emphasizes the contribution made by all of our senses to the evaluation of a driving experience.

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Sensory Systems - Vision

• Marketers rely heavily on visual elements in advertising, store design, and packaging.

• Meanings are communicated on the visual channel through a product’s color, size, and styling.

• Colors may influence our emotions more directly.– Arousal and stimulated appetite (e.g. red)– Relaxation (e.g. blue)

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Vision

• Color– Color provokes

emotion– Reactions to color

are biological & cultural

– Color in marketing is serious business!

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Perceptions of Color

This ad campaign by

the San Francisco

Ballet uses color

perceptions to get urban

sophisticates to add

classical dance to their

packed entertainment

itineraries.

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Perceptions of Color

• As this Dutch detergent ad demonstrates (Flowery orange fades without Dreft), vivid colors are often an attractive product feature.

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• First Heinz gave us “Blastin’ Green” ketchup in a squeeze bottle. Now they have introduced “Funky Purple” ketchup.

• What sensory perception is Heinz trying to appeal to? Do you think this product will be successful? Why or why not?

Discussion Question

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Smell

• Odors = mood & memory (limbic system)– Fresh cinnamon buns = male sexual arousal– Scented marketing

• Cadillac’s “Nuance” scent = expensive upholstery

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Smell in Advertising

• This ad pokes fun at the proliferation of scented ads. Ah, the scent of sweat.

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Hearing

• Many aspects of sound affect people’s feelings and behaviors– Phonemes of brands = unique product

meanings• “i” brands are “lighter” than “a” brands

– Effect of Muzak: Muzak uses a system it calls “stimulus progression” to increase the normally slower tempo of workers during midmorning and midafternoon time slots.

MUZAK.COM

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Applications of Touch Perceptions

• Kansai engineering: A philosophy that translates customers’ feelings into design elements.

• Mazda Miata designers discovered that making the stick shift (shown on the right) exactly 9.5 cm long conveys the optimal feeling of sportiness and control.

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Tactile Quality Associations

Table 2.1

Tactile Oppositions in Fabrics

Perception Male Female

High class Wool Silk Fine

Low class Denim Cotton

Heavy Light Coarse

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Taste

• “Flavor houses” (e.g., Alpha M.O.S.)– Develop new concoctions for consumer palates

• Cultural changes determine desirable tastes

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This ad targets which senses?

• This Finnish ad emphasizes the sensual reasons to visit the city of Helsinki.

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Exposure

• A stimulus comes within range of someone’s sensory receptors– We can concentrate,

ignore, or completely miss stimuli

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Your Assignment

• Select three to five advertisements (in any format) that target different sensory perceptions.

• Present those advertisements in 5 to 10-minutes.

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Sensory Thresholds

• Psychophysics

• Absolute threshold– Dog whistle– Billboard with too small print

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Sensory Thresholds (Cont’d)

• Differential threshold– J.n.d.– Weber’s Law

• Discussion: Many studies have shown that our sensory detection abilities decline as we grow older.– Discuss the implications

of the absolute threshold for marketers attempting to appeal to the elderly.

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Subliminal Perception

• It is believed that many ads are designed to be perceived unconsciously (below threshold of recognition)

• Subliminal Techniques– Embeds– Subliminal auditory

perception

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Subliminal Perception (Cont’d)

• Most researchers believe that subliminal techniques are not of much use in marketing

• Discussion: Assuming that some forms of subliminal persuasion may have the desired effect of influencing consumers, do you think the use of these techniques is ethical? Explain your answer.

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Subliminal Messages in Ads

• Critics of subliminal persuasion often focus on ambiguous shapes in drinks that supposedly spell out words like S E X as evidence for the use of this technique. This Pepsi ad, while hardly subliminal, gently borrows this message format.

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Attention

• The extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus– Competition for our attention

• 3,500 ad info pieces per day• Multitask

– Marketers need to break through the clutter

• Microsoft’s butterfly decals on sidewalks

• Mini Cooper’s fake robots ad

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Attention and Advertising

• Nike tries to cut through the clutter by spotlighting maimed athletes instead of handsome models.

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Stimulus Selection Factors

• Size:– The size of the stimulus itself in contrast to the

competition helps to determine if it will command attention.

• Color:– Color is a powerful way to draw attention to a product.

• Position:– Stimuli that are present in places we’re more likely to

look stand a better chance of being noticed.

• Novelty:– Stimuli that appear in unexpected ways or places tend

to grab our attention.

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Perceptual Selection (Cont’d)• Stimulus Selection Factors

– Weber’s Law• Differences in size, color, position, & novelty

– Interpretation: assigned meaning to stimuli• Schema leads to stimulus evaluation

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• What technique does this Australian ad rely on to get your attention?

• Does the technique enhance or detract from the advertisement of the actual product?

Discussion Question

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Stimulus Organization

• A stimulus will be interpreted based on its assumed relationship with other events, sensations, or images.

• Closure Principle:– People tend to perceive an incomplete picture as

complete.

• Principle of Similarity:– Consumers tend to group together objects that share

the same physical characteristics.

• Figure-ground Principle:– One part of a stimulus will dominate (the figure) and

other parts will recede into the background (the ground).

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Gestalt Principle

• This Swedish ad relies upon gestalt perceptual principles to insure that the perceiver organizes a lot of separate images into a familiar image.

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Principle of Closure

• This Land Rover ad illustrates the use of the principle of closure, in which people participate in the ad by mentally filling in the gaps in the sentence.

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Figure-ground Principle

• This billboard for Wrangler jeans makes creative use of the figure-ground principle.

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Semiotics

• Correspondence between signs and symbols and their role in the assignment of meaning

• Consumer products = social identities– Advertising as culture/consumption dictionary

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Semiotic Relationships

MarlboroCigarettes

Cowboy RuggedAmerican

Object(Product)

Sign(Image)

Interpretant(Meaning)Figure 2.3

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Semiotics (Cont’d)• Signs are related to

objects in 3 ways:– Icon– Index– Symbol

• Hyperreality– Marlboro cigarettes =

American frontier spirit– “Heidiland” in Switzerland

Office Space & “Rio Red” stapler: SWINGLINE.COM

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Perceptual Positioning

• Positioning Strategy– A fundamental part of a company’s marketing

efforts as it uses elements of the marketing mix to influence the consumer’s interpretation of its meaning.

– Many dimensions can establish a brand’s position in the marketplace:

• Lifestyle • Competitors

• Price Leadership • Occasions

• Attributes • Users

• Product Class • Quality

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Perceptual MapFigure 2.4